Commissioners said it is not a situation that can continue that long and directed staff to expedite construction.

"The sooner the better," County Commission Chairman Dave Russell said.

Commissioner Jim Adkins said it's "a long way to that part of the county."

Rampino said he has identified nine parcels in the affected area, which is expected to grow in population with the future development of Hickory Hills, a planned 1,750-home subdivision in Spring Lake.

Assistant county attorney Shaun Amarnani plans to vet the properties and negotiate prices for the new Station 25.

Rampino said he is pleased commissioners want to speed up the project. If the process were to begin today, it could take 18 months to two years to purchase the property, go out to bid, design the fires station and build it, he said.

Once built, Rampino said the station would be equipped with an advanced life support engine and Spring Lake would receive fire and medical attention more quickly.

Rampino said the industry standard for response times is under six minutes and firefighters try to attain that goal at least 90 percent of the time.